Key factors:
As AI cements itself firmly into lecture rooms, one massive and lingering query issues when and the way college students can use it appropriately. It takes solely seconds to plug a writing immediate right into a generative AI device and obtain a accomplished task. As an alternative of forbidding generative AI instruments, it’s crucial that lecturers present college students how and when it’s acceptable to make use of AI in pupil writing.
The underside line: When college students are assured of their writing expertise, they are going to be much less tempted to run on to AI to generate a writing task. Then, lecturers can display how and when it’s acceptable for college kids to make use of AI to their profit.
Throughout an ISTELive 24 session, Sarah Mauel, Amy Miller, and Tahlia Remer, tutorial expertise trainers in Arizona’s Tempe Union Excessive Faculty District, shared methods to assist college students enhance their writing expertise, thereby bettering their self-confidence, together with sharing examples of how you can appropriately use AI instruments in pupil writing assignments.
It’s typically straightforward to find out if college students have used an AI device to generate a response to a writing task or to generate a whole essay. The largest inform is that the writing will sound nothing like every of the scholar’s different submitted assignments. Lecturers may also search for:
- Flawless writing: The grammar is sort of error-free, and the longer the response, the extra bloated sentences that repeat the identical idea
- Lack of authentic/genuine considering: AI can solely compose what it finds on the web
- Superior language: Use of unusual vocabulary phrases when attempting to write down at a better stage, or utilizing apparent informal language to tone it down
- Format and construction are conventional and robotic: Think about what a 5 paragraph essay sometimes appears like when utilizing an overview
- Use of lists or outlines: AI likes to create subtopics, label them, after which present encyclopedia-type responses
The appearance of generative AI additionally raises the problem of plagiarism–and the way educators can (and will) rethink plagiarism and dishonest.
Lecturers ought to embrace an AI use chart (like this one from Ditch That Textbook) with their course descriptions and have clear-cut discussions with dad and mom and college students about when AI use is and isn’t acceptable.
Earlier than bemoaning college students’ urge to rely fully on AI, it’s necessary to establish and deal with the explanations college students use AI to write down. These causes might embrace: lack of writing expertise, insecurity round writing expertise, struggles with time administration, confusion concerning the subject, lacking grammar and organizational expertise, having no motivation or curiosity, lacking real-world relevance, poor work ethic, lack of entry to assets, and residential/private life stress.
It’s necessary to make the writing course of much less intimidating.
“Accepting late work and permitting revisions can actually decide if college students use AI,” Miller stated. “Should you’re not going to simply accept it late and so they’re not going to have any time [to do the work], they’re going to go forward and use AI.”
Revisiting the steps of the writing course of, significantly as a result of college students are nonetheless combating studying losses post-pandemic, will help college students construct stronger writing expertise in order that they don’t instantly flip to AI to finish writing assignments.
Providing college students totally different choices by means of which to display their understanding and their writing expertise is one other solution to discourage them from mechanically utilizing AI.
“We now have to rethink the full-length essay because the end-all, be-all for assessing pupil writing expertise,” Miller stated. “It’s intimidating. We are able to assess their understanding of what they learn and their capacity to write down by means of shorter bursts of writing. I nonetheless suppose there’s worth to [the full-length essay], however they don’t must do it on a regular basis.”
For an in-depth exploration of various writing assignments to assist college students construct confidence and display expertise, watch the recorded model of the session. Examples embrace small-group brainstorming and “Mini Socratics” (small-group Socratic Seminars), gamification strategies giving college students factors for every part they’ve accomplished in an task, small-group peer critiques the place college students replicate on one another’s concepts as a substitute of correcting errors, and extra.
Though college students ought to develop their very own writing expertise and talents, AI just isn’t going away, so it’s worthwhile to establish the issues AI can do within the writing classroom. AI will help personalize content material for college kids primarily based on their stage of data, studying velocity, and desired studying targets; present one-on-one studying experiences outdoors the classroom; give college students fast responses to questions to avoid wasting time; and function a 24/7 chatbot for studying to supply studying fairness, Mauel stated.
Creating assignments that require issues AI just isn’t good at is one solution to circumvent widespread pupil AI use. For instance, AI is nice at conducting analysis, synthesizing data, utilizing totally different ranges of vocabulary, and adopting a specific tone. AI just isn’t good at providing subjective explanations, evaluative crucial considering, sharing private experiences, and providing private reflections. (MagicSchool.AI affords a device to make assignments AI-resistant.)
Lecturers can use AI to craft assignments for particular pupil populations, as effectively, together with creating writing prompts designed for various pupil wants, for thought technology, to simplify language and instructions, and to make use of speech-to-text and/or text-to-speech for language translation.
Should you do suspect a pupil has submitted an task solely generated from AI, approaching the problem fastidiously can guarantee open conversations:
- Acknowledge your biases and don’t assume the scholar’s intention
- Come from a spot of help somewhat than phrases/actions that disgrace the scholar
- Think about how a lot AI help was used to write down the task
- If the piece is 100% AI, provide zero credit score for that task and provides the scholar a chance to rewrite it
It’s necessary to speak with households about AI writing, too. Outline what AI-generated writing is, present a spread of acceptable use of AI inside your classroom, present a self-discipline matrix displaying actions for AI use violations, and emphasize that AI has some nice instruments to help college students with writing, however not in technology of whole assignments
Vital issues for classroom AI embrace:
- AI is right here to remain–it’s a companion and helper, not a substitute for people
- Revamp and revise your method to instructing with AI in thoughts
- Attempt one thing new, like shorter bursts of writing and/or collaboration, to evaluate expertise
- Prepare your college students on how you can use AI ethically–when is it acceptable to make use of AI?
- Work on serving to college students achieve confidence of their writing
“AI’s going to be there–we’ve got to return to finest practices in instructing,” Miller stated. “We have to take a look at it once more. Finest practices are going to assist us assist our college students to realize that confidence.”
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the College of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill School of Journalism.
